An Escape To La Jolla

Left L.A for La Jolla with my friend for an early birthday celebration. She wanted to try out Shiku Sushi that I raved about so much. We had no idea what traffic was going to be like. It took us about three hours. L.A is so unpredictable. But I just wanted to go somewhere for half a day. The potential of an escalated war between the U.S and Iran has been difficult to cope with.

We stopped at Shiku to grab lunch. My friend wanted to try everything on the menu because everything looked so good. But you know what they say, Your eyes are bigger than your stomach. We had my favorite—Agedashi Tofu which I wrote about the last time I was there, and Tofu Geisha, and Hippie Gangsta minus sundried tomato because they were out, but they replaced it with zucchini tempura.

We walked around a bit, and went inside the Valencia hotel. The staff there is so nice. The beautiful fresh flowers above decorate their lobby.

This fountain was so pretty that I had to take a shot.

There are a bunch of shops in this passage, but most were closed by the time we got there. La Dolce Vida restaurant looked interesting. We saw one or two coffee shops that were open till midnight which surprised us. We thought people in La Jolla go to bed early. Also, the area has so much variety from Japanese food, to Italian, to sea food, to Indian.

We wanted to go walking by the water, but it was starting to get dark. We found Coast Walk Trail and climbed for a bit.

The entire area is so lovely, and the water looks so clean.

There is a restaurant called Eddie Vic with an entrance from Prospect Street (I think). As you can see it has great views. We were debating as to what kind of food it served. It turned out that we were both wrong. It's a seafood and steak place, not Italian, and not Chinese 😄 After hanging around the area, we walked down and checked out the boutique hotels, quaint eateries and a small market. Then we climbed up, and headed back because it was getting late. We got back to L.A around midnight. It was a relaxing getaway. That's what I like about L.A. It offers so many places nearby and makes you feel like you're on a mini getaway. 

La Jolla

Saturday. After all that rain, I needed fresh air, sunshine and some fun. So, I headed out to San Diego. If you live in L.A, it's best to leave early. I didn't, and hit a ton of traffic. I used to visit La Jolla all the time. My friend lived there before she moved to Palos Verdes, and I spent many relaxing weekends with her and her husband at her house. Of course, La Jolla has changed a lot since then. It went from being a sleepy neighborhood to a happening one. It's packed with unique boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, and whatnot. It even has a Haageen-Daz ice-cream shop! I didn't even know that they were still around. The best part about La Jolla is the sea views. Nature is more beautiful than anything manmade.

I hadn't eaten all day. So, my first stop was Shiku Sushi I had heard so much about. I have to say that the food is fresh and tasty. They are super busy. It's best to go there at an off hour. I tried the Miso, the Veggie Yakisoba (Whoops, forgot to take a photo 😏), Agedashi Tofu, green tea, and green tea mochi. My favorite was the Agedashi Tofu. So yum. I wanted to try everything, and ended up taking a bunch of stuff home minus the mochi, because, well, I live too far away. I also got a take away order of Tofu Geisha. It's better to go there with a couple of people and share so that you don't end up with leftovers. If I lived in the area, I would probably eat there quite often.

I decided to get a palm reading for the fun of it. I honestly didn't think there would be several people waiting. I guess this is a popular place. It's on Prospect Avenue. I can't recall the psychic's name. She forgot to give me her card, but I think she is the owner. Now, I'm a difficult person to figure out. So, Psychics either guess and get most of it wrong or they have to ask me a bunch of questions about my family and past relationships in order to guess better. To my surprise though, she got a few things right such as telling me that about ten years ago or so I lost someone which had a great impact on me, and changed me into a different person. I have no idea how she knew that. The person I lost was my mom, and I did become a different person. 

I went into this art gallery. The local artist, Ian Ely, has a lot of incredible pieces of nature. They were out of my budget, but Kristina, the sales rep, also offered prints of the work, and explained how the different versions of the same photograph were set up. She took me into a tiny room, and showed me the effect of different light settings as it dimmed slowly and changed the look of the photograph.

This is a nice hotel. I went in to explore. There was an event going on with people dressed up, drinking, and socializing. There is a restaurant/bar area. The views are spectacular, and the staff are friendly. Whether you're visiting L.A or live in the area, I highly recommend coming down to La Jolla. At first glance, parking seems to be difficult to find, but if you are patient, you will find a space. There are also a bunch of parking lots. And when you finally get there, do take your time to take in all that it has to offer, and spend an entire day there. I wish I had.

Sunday update: I'm eating the leftover Tofu Geisha from Shiku Sushi for Brunch. It's really good even as a leftover.